ANDREW MLANGENIImprisoned for Life (Original biographical information included with his bracelet in 1985)

Andrew Mlangeni was tried in the Pretoria Supreme Court from October 1963 to June 1964 along with Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, and others in the ‘Rivonia Trial’. He was charged under the Sabotage and Suppression of Communism Acts, with campaigning to overthrow the Government by violent revolution and with assisting in the armed invasion of the country by foreign troops. The charge sheet listed 193 acts of sabotage allegedly carried out by persons recruited by the accused in their capacity as members of the High Command of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). Umkhonto we Sizwe is the military wing of the ANC. Mlangeni was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment which he is serving on Robben Island. In his testimony, Mlangeni said that he had not become a member of Umkhonto We Sizwe, but had agreed to carry messages for it. Mlangeni was born in 1926 in an African township near Johannesburg of poor parents. As a boy he worked as a caddie in order to earn school fees for St. Peters secondary school, Johannesburg. Here, he obtained his Junior Certificate in 1946. Unable to proceed further for financial reasons, he took a number of jobs. He joined the ANC Youth League in 1951, and the ANC itself in 1954. He was elected ANC Branch Secretary in 1956. He was Regional Secretary (Soweto) from 1958 to 1960. In 1961, he was organizer of the All-In African Conference. In the same year, he accompanied Joe Gqabi, New Age reporter, to investigate the forced removal of the Bapedi tribe from their land near Lydenburg and was arrested for being in Trust Land without permission. He is married with four children.

___________The source of this biographical information is International Defence and Aid Fund’s book, Prisoners of Apartheid, 1978. We appreciate their permission to use this material.